


you don't have to stay

by chidorinnn



Series: Domestic Exorcists [6]
Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 08:10:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6846505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chidorinnn/pseuds/chidorinnn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“If you’re unhappy with your current guardians–” Touko-san starts.</p>
<p>“I’m not!” Takashi cuts her off, suddenly very aware of how rude and even hysterical he probably sounds now. “They’re just…” His voice cracks again. “They’re doing the best they can.”</p>
<p>Her brow knots together. “Sometimes that isn’t enough.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	you don't have to stay

The old woman brings him back to her home, a large house on the edge of town, and makes him sit at the table while she makes him barley tea. Takashi sits with his hands clenched tightly into fists under the table. It’s been a long time since he’s met anyone from his family, and reuniting with a relative so suddenly – someone he didn’t even know existed, at that – makes his stomach twist into knots.

“I’m so sorry to keep you waiting, Takashi-kun,” the woman – Touko-san, she introduced herself – says gently as she sets a cup down on the table before him. “I’m afraid Shigeru-san is still at work, so it will be some time before he can join us.”

“Ah…” His voice cracks, and he almost knocks the cup over in his haste to pick it up. “Th-That’s fine…” He takes a sip without thinking, cringing as it scalds his tongue.

Touko-san startles. “I’m so sorry!” she says again. “Maybe I should have waited for it to cool before giving it to you…”

“Ah…” Takashi says again. “It’s… it’s fine.” He remembers to blow on the tea before sipping it this time.

Touko-san visibly relaxes, tension leaving her shoulders, and the smile she gives him is kinder and gentler than anything he’s seen from either Seiji or Shuuichi. “I would have called you over sooner, but I didn’t realize you’d moved into the area until fairly recently. How long have you been living here, Takashi-kun?”

“Two… months, I think?” he answered slowly, looking down at his tea. They’d moved so suddenly, too, and there hadn’t been any time to protest. Takashi liked to think that he didn’t miss the tiny apartment in the city with barely enough space all that much, especially compared to the much larger house he and Shuuichi now lived in, but…

“Takashi-kun?”

“S-Sorry!” He sets the cup down too hard, making a few drops of tea splash outside and onto the table.

“Are you… happy here, Takashi-kun?” Touko-san asks slowly, hesitantly.

The words catch in his throat. He’s not _unhappy_ , he wants to tell her, even though he’s not exactly _happy_ either.

“If you’re unhappy with your current guardians–” Touko-san starts.

“I’m not!” Takashi cuts her off, suddenly very aware of how rude and even hysterical he probably sounds now. “They’re just…” His voice cracks again. “They’re doing the best they can.”

Her brow knots together. “Sometimes that isn’t enough.”

“But–”

“You don’t have to stay,” Touko-san says surprisingly bluntly. “If you’re unhappy, then you’re not obligated to stay with your current guardians. We can make other arrangements–”

“But I…”

She inhales deeply. “If you’d like, Takashi-kun, you can stay here. With me and Shigeru-san.”

“I don’t know–” Takashi starts.

“You don’t have to make a decision right away,” Touko-san says calmly, “but think about it. If you’re unhappy with your current guardians, then you can always come and stay with us.”

He doesn’t remember leaving – maybe he’d stammered out an excuse to leave, or maybe he’d just left without saying anything, but before he knows it, he’s stumbling home with his heart pounding and his palms sweating. It’s dark inside when he lets himself in, a sure sign that Shuuichi has yet to return from work, if he’s going to return at all. Takashi doesn’t think when he picks up the phone and calls Seiji.

“I’m sorry,” says a stern voice on the other line. “Matoba-sama is busy at the moment.”

_Of course he is_ , Takashi thinks bitterly as he all but collapses by the dining table.

It’s too quiet in the house. There’s too much space, and not enough people to occupy it.

Not for the first time, he finds himself thinking back to their tiny apartment in the city, where either Shuuichi or Seiji was always there, if not both at once.

He buries his face in his arms on the table. _Maybe I really should…_

The front door swings open then. “Sorry I’m late,” Shuuichi mutters distractedly as he always does these days. “I brought dinner.”

“I already ate,” Takashi lies, because he isn’t feeling very hungry anyway. Neither bothers to comment on Seiji’s conspicuous absence.


End file.
